Electric train signaling and controlling system.



A. J. ALLARD.

ELECTRLC TRAIN SIGNALING AND CONTROLLING SYSTEM.

APPLICATIQN FILED JULY 30,1913.

1,136,751 Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET ll qjaimf THE NORRIS PETERS 00., PHOTG-LITHQ. WASHINGTON,D1

A. J. ALLARD.

ELECTRlC TRAIN SIGNALING AND CONTROLLING SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED JULY30, 1913.

1,136,751. Patented Apr.20,1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

iiliiliiiilii! W NESSES N J k/%&I,NVEIVTOR t W d/ I Al/ormy IHE NORRISFE'IEQS DOQPHOTO-LITHOH WASHING1M. p c.

. A. J. ALLARD.

ELECTRIC TRAIN SIGNAL 1,136,751, APPLICATION flllilllll)! ING ANDCONTROLLING SYSTEM.

FILED JULY 30,1913.

' Patented Apr. 20, 1915.

3 SHBETS SHEET 8.

III

Mlllllllll ill jn alazifii'umii 8 11m II THE NORRIS PETERS CO.

.F'HOTG-LITHD.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

srn

ANDREW J. ALLAH-D, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

Application filed J'u1y 30, 1913.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ANDREW J. ALLARD, aresident of Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric TrainSignaling and Controlling Systems; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

This invention relates to improvements in electric train signaling andcontrolling systems and more particularly to such as are intended todisplay signals in the cabs of locomotives or in the motormans vestibuleof an electric car, and to cause, automatically the stopping of thetrain if the signal be ignored,-one object of my invention being toprovide means for use on a single track road, for controlling theoperation of the signaling and controlling devices under variousconditions, with the use of normally closed track circuits.

A further object is to provide means whereby the circuit controllingmechanism will be set to energize the contact rails upon failure orrupture of any of the track or line circuits.

A further object is to so arrange contact rails that a head-on signalmay be displayed when a train enters one block and again when said trainapproaches the other end of the same block.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction and combinations and arrangements ofparts as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a diagrammatical viewillustrating the circuits and devices at two block junctions, said viewshowing one complete block and parts of two other blocks; Fig. 2 is asimilar diagrammatical view, showing only portions of the circuits anddevices; Fig. 3 is a diagrainmatical view illustrating the cab circuitsand devices; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view partly in section and partly ineleva-- tion showing one of the circuit controlling instruments locatedat the unction of blocks ofrailway, and Fig. 5 is a plan view, partly insection, of said instrument.

1,-2, represent the ra1ls of a railway track.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 29, 1915.

Serial No. 782.118.

The rail 1 is continuous, while the rail 2, is divided, at the juncturesof the blocks, into insulated sections 4, 5 5 Comparatively near, and atrespective sides of the juncture of each of two blocks, contact rails 6are centrally located between the rails of the track and each isconnected by a circuit including a resistance 8 and a battery 9, with ashorter contact rail 10. Located some distance from each long rail 6, isa short, centrally located contact rail 11 which is electricallyconnected with said long rail by means of a suitable conductor 12.Contact rails 13 and 14 are located at respective sides of the center ofthe track near one end of each central contact rail. The various contactrails are intended for cooperation with contact shoes on a locomotivefor the purpose of completing circuits through cer tain signaling andcontrolling appliances on the locomotives, and the truck frame of thelatter also serves to electrically connect the track rails, all ashereinafter more fully explained.

Near the intersection of the blocks of railway, contact shiftinginstruments 18 are located. Each of these instruments comprises a drum19 of insulating material, and the journals 20 of said drum are mountedin brackets 21 secured upon a suitable base 22. To one end of the drum,a notched ring 23 is secured, the notches in said ring forming shoulders24. A yoke 25 is secured to the platform and extends over the notchedring 23. This yoke is made with elongated slots 26, in the upperportions of which, the upper ends of curved arms 27 of weighted dogs2829 are pivotally supported, the teeth of said dogs being adapted toengage the respective shoulders 24 of the notched ring and lock the drumin the position to which it may be moved. A disk 30 is secured to oneend of the drum 19 and to this disk, at diametrically opposite sides ofits center pins 31 are secured. With these pins, the upper portions ofslotted links 32 are connected and these links are pivotally connectedat their lower ends to a pendulous rod 33 depending through an openingin the base 22 and provided at its lower end with a weight 34. Theweight 34 will operate to retain the drum in and return it to its normalposition. For the purpose of rocking the drum 19, electromagnets 3536are provided. The armatures 37 are carried by pivoted levers 8839, andthe free innerends of these levers are connected, by means of links 40,with the pins 31 on the disk 30. The weighted dogs 28-29 are sopivotally supported that the teeth of said dogs will press toward thenotched ring 23 so that when the drum is turned in one direction or theother, one of these dogs will drop under one of the shoulders 24 of saidring and thus lock the drum in the position to which it has beenshifted. The dogs 2829 will be actuated to release the drum, by means ofelectro-magnets 41-42.

The drum 19 of the instrument 18 is provided with a plurality of contactplates to cotiperate with contact fingers as will now be described.Although the drum is cylindrical in form, reference will be made to thetop, bottom and sides of said drum in order to describe the location ofthe contact-plates,reference being had to the drum when the same is inits normal position. On the top face of the drum, contact plates 43, 44,45, 46 and 47 are located; (the plates 45 and 47 being each made in twoseparated sections) and on the bottom face, contact plates 48, 49, 50and 51 are secured the latter being made in two separated partselectrically connected with the parts of the contact plate 47. Contactfingers 52-53 and 54-55 coiiperate with the contact plate 43; fingers5657 and 58-59 are arranged to be engaged by contact plate 48; fingers60, 61 and 62-63 are disposed to cooperate with contact plate 44;fingers 64-65 and 6667 are so located as to be engaged by contact platesections 45; fingers 68-69 and 70-71 are arranged to be connected bycontact plate 50; fingers 72-73 and 7475 cooperate with contact plate46; fingers 7677 and 7879 coiiperate with contact plate 49, fingers 80and 82 coiiperate with contact plate sections 47, and fingers 81-81 and83-83 cooperate with the sections of contact plate 51.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing, I have shown a block B, and parts of two otherblocks A. and C; and two overlapping block terminals D, and E. Thecircuits and devices at all the block terminals, and for both ends ofthe siding, are the same and hence a detail description of the circuitsand devices and their operation at each block terminal will besuperfluous. The cooperation of the circuits and devices at one oranother block terminal with those of adjacent block terminals will,however be hereinafter eX- plained. The contact fingers 52 and 54 areelectrically connected by a conductor 84 and the latter is connected bya conductor 85 with one terminal of a battery 86, the other terminal ofthis battery being connected, by means of a conductor 87 with the mill.

contact rails eachset consisting of contact rails 6, 10, 11, 13, 14 areshown, one'set for trains running in one direction and the other set fortrains running in the opposite direction, and for convenience, thesecontact rails may be termed east-bound and west-bound contact rails,theeast-bound trains running from right to left and the west-bound trainsrunning from left to right. The contact finger 81 of onecircuitcontrolling instrument (at E for instance) is connected by a lineconductor 90 with acontact finger 83 of the instrument 18 at the otherend of the block (as at the block terminal D Fig. 1). The contact finger77 (at E) is connected by a line conductor 91, with a contact finger 79(at D). At each block junction, the rail 1 is connected with the railsection 4 by a conductor 15 including a battery 16, and the rail section5 is connected with the rail 1 by a conductor 17 including a battery 17.A conductor is also connected with rail section 4, and the other end ofthis conductor is connected with one terminal of an electro-magnet 96,the other terminal of this magnet being connected by a conductor 97 withthe track rail 1. It will thus be seen that the magnet 96 is in a closedcircuit with battery 16 and operates normally to actuate the weightedlever of a circuit closer 98 and hold said circuit closer open.

WVhen an east-bound train, running from right to left, bridges the rail1 and rail section 4, it will serve, by thus electrically connectingsaid rail and rail section, to shortcircuit the battery 16 and thusdeenergizing the magnet 96 and permitting the circuit closer 98 to closethe circuit in which it is included. This last-mentioned circuit may betraced from battery 86 by conductor 87 to conductor 87 to circuit closer98 then by a' conductor 99 to one coil of the magnet 35, then byconductor 100 to contact finger 67, then by contact plate 45 to finger66 (said contact plate electrically connecting the fingers 66 and 67 andalso fingers 64 and 65 when the drum 19 is in normal position), then bya conductor 101 to the other coil of magnet 35, and then by a conductor102 to battery 86. The current in this circuit will energizemagnet 35and cause the same to actuate lever 38 to turn the drum 19 from left toright, in which position it will be come locked.v Included in parallelwith the magnets 35 are the magnets 103 of a circuit closer 104. Thearmature lever 105 ofthis circuit closer is provided with a weighted end106, and near its other end, said lever is provided with a contact point107 (see Fig;

sulated contact screw 109 is provided. to

limit movement of thearmature lever toward the magnets 103. When thecircuit of the magnets 35 is closed and the drum 19 (at E) turned asabove described, thecircuit closer 104 will open another circuit whichwill be afterward closed for the purpose of releasing the instrument atthe end of the block to the right of E, assuming the train to be runningfrom right to left and just entering the block B. For convenience intracing the circuit controlled by the circuit closer 104, it may be wellto assume temporarily that the east-bound train is just passing theblock terminal D instead of E, and that the drum of the instrument at Ehad been shifted as above described. When the train bridges the rails1-5 at D, circuits such as above described will be established to shiftthe instrument 18 at D to the right. The instrument 18 at E had beenpreviously shifted to the right when the train passed.

that block terminal. The magnets 103 of circuit closer 104 at Dwill'actuate their armature to open the circuit in which said circuitcloser is included, and, under the conditions above assumed, thiscircuit may be traced as follows: from battery 86 at D to conductor 102then by conductor 194 and 115*, through a (normally open) circuit closer115; then by conductor 115 to a conductor 114, through circuit closer104 at D; then by conductor 113 to contact finger 74 of instrument 18 atD, to contact plate 46, to finger 75; by conductor 112 to line conductor91 to contact finger 77 of instrument 18 at E, to contact 49, to finger76, by conductor 92 to a magnet 93 at left of E, by conductor 110 toconductor 87, to track rail 1 at E, to conductor 87 at D, and back tobattery 86 at D. When the circuit just traced is closed at 104 and 115at D, the magnet 93 at left of E will be energized and the followingcircuit will be established (by closing the circuit closer 94) toactuate unlocking magnet 42 at E for releasing the drum 19 at D andpermitting it to return to normal position. This circuit of theunlocking magnet 42 may be traced as follows: from battery 86 at E, byconductor 85 to conductor 116; then through coil of releasing magnet 42;then by conductor 117 to circuit closer 94 (at E), then by conductor 110(at left of E) to conductor 87 and by the latter to the battery 86.

It should be borne in mind that when the locomotive of the train bridgesthe rails 15 at D, the instrument 18 at D will be shifted, but it isdesirable that the instrument at E shall not be released and permittedto return to normal until every car of the train has passed the blockterminal D and ceased to bridge the rails 1-5. This is especiallyimportant in the case of a very long train, so as to avoid possibilityof a rear end collision between two trains running in the samedirection. Thus it will be observed that with the instruments 18 at bothblock terminals D and E shifted from left to right, the magnets 103 at Dwill remain in a closed circuit as long as any part of a train runningfrom right to left is bridging the rails 15 at D, and that therefore thecircuit closers 104 at D and 94 at E will be kept open and the unlockingmagnet 42 at E deenergized. The importance of maintaining the instrumentat E set in its shifted position is due to the fact that such shiftingof said instrument establishes certain partial circuits to cooperatewith cab circuits to give a rearend signal to a following train (ashereinafter explained), and if the instrument at E were returned tonormal (thus destroying the circuits for the rear-end signals) as soonas a preceding train reaches the block terminal D, the following trainwould be permitted to enter the block at E before the first train hascompletely passed the block terminal D. This might entail danger in casethe first train were a very long one.

When the last car of the first train has passed the block terminal D andceases to bridge the rails 15, the circuit of magnet 103 at D will beopened and the weighted armature 105 will cause the closing of circuitcloser 104, thus closing the circuit of magnet 93 at E and the closingof the circuit closer 94 and the circuit of the releasing magnet 42 atE. The instrument at E will now return to normal and a second train mayenter the block B at E.

Under the conditions above described, the circuit of the unlockingmagnet will be closed when the instrument at E is shifted to the rightupon the arrival of a following train at E While any part of thepreceding train has not passed the rail section at D and hence theinstrument would tend to immediately return to normal. To prevent suchcondition, the circuit closer 115 is provided, and this circuit closeris controlled by a magnet 115 connected in circuit with a battery 115between rails 15 in advance of the insulated rail section 5. It will beobserved that portions of a train will bridge rails 1 and 2 and 1 and 5at the same time and that the circuit of battery 115 will be closedthrough the trucks of the cars as long as they bridge the rails 12, andalso that the magnet 115 will be energized during this time,to retainclosed the circuit closer 115. Now, when the last car of the train haspassed the circuit closer 115, the circuit of magnet 115 will be opened,and consequently the circuit which includes the circuit closers 115 and104 will be open at 115 so that when the instrument 18 at E is shiftedto the right by the arrival of a following train running from right toleft, the circuit of the unlocking magnet 42 will be open and theinstrument 18 will remain shifted until it shall be subsequentlyreleased by the operation of'the circuits and devices when this trainpasses the block junction D, as above described.

Returning now to the assumption that an east-bound train is at E andjust about to enter the block B. The east-bound train arriving at Ehaving caused the shifting of the drum 19 at E, the following conditionswill be established: The caution contact rails 61011 and intermediateconnections, at the right of block intersection E, will be included in abattery circuit which will be completed through signaling andcontrolling devices on the locomotive of a following east-bound trainshould such train arrive at the block intersection E while theinstrument remains set as above described before the first train reachesthe block intersection D. The circuit to which reference has just beenmade, is established by the shifting of the drum 19 at E to the right asfollows: from battery 86 at E by conductors, 85 and 84 to contact finger54; then by contact plate 43 to linger 55; then by conductor 119 toconductor 120; then by the latter to battery 9, to conductor 7, tocontact rail 10 at the right of block junction E and by resistance 8 tocontact rail 6, then through signaling devices on the train; then byrail 1 to conductor 87 and then to battery 86. This will operate certainsignaling instrumentalities to give a caution signal or to stop thetrain, as will now be explained. The locomotive carries a contact shoe121 in position to engage the contact rails 61011. The shoe 121 isconnected by conductors 122 and 123 with one terminal of a solenoid 124,the other terminal of the latter being connected by a conductor 125 witha conductor 126. The conductor 126 is connected with one terminal of abattery 127, and the other terminal of the latter is connected by aconductor 128 with the truck frame 129. The core of the solenoid 124 isconnected with an arm 130 of a pivoted block or caution signal blade131. An east-bound train having passed block intersection E and anothereast-bound train having reached the contact rail 11 at the right of E,the circuits of the batteries 86 and 127 will be closed through thesolenoid 124 and the signal blade 131 will be raised to caution toindicate to the engineer that there is another train in his vicinity, inthe block ahead. As the east-bound train No. 2 proceeds and its shoe 121engages the long contact rail 6, the signal blade 131 will be againraised (assuming east-bound train No. 1 to be still in the block ahead),and indicate to the engineer that he should slow down. Should hedisregard such caution signal and neglect to bring the speed of histrain to a speed of say less than five miles an hour, the

brakes of his train will be applied when he reaches the contact rail 10and passes over said rail at a speed exceeding the predetermined of sayfive miles per hour. The means whereby these results are accomplishedwill now'be described.

A brake-controlling valve is indicated in Fig. '3 at 132 and with thestem 133 of this valve, a weighted lever 134 is connected. A lever 135is pivoted to a fixed support and also to the stem 133 of the valve. Thelever 135 is provided with a trip arm 136 to be engaged by a weightedtrip'lever 137 which is under the control of an electro-magnet 138. Oneterminal of the magnet 138 is connected, by a conductor 139 with aconductor 140 and the latter is connected with the conductor 125. Theother terminal of the magnet 138 is connected by a conductor 141 with acontact point 142. A weighted contact lever 143 is pivotally supportedin proximity to the contact point 142 and this contact lever isconnected'by a conductor 144 with the conductor 128. The contact lever143 is maintained normally out of engagement with the contact point 142as shown in Fig. 3, by means of a'weighted latch lever 145 which isunder the control of an electro magnet 146. One terminal of the magnet146 is connected, by a conductor 147 with the conductor 123 and theother terminal ofsaid magnet is connected by a conductor 148 with aspeedometer indicated diagrammatically at 149. The movable arm of thespeedometer cooperates with fixed contact points, with one of which theconductor 126 is connected.- Assuming now, that the train passes overthe contact rail 10, at a speed greater than, say five miles an hour,the movable arm of the speedolneter will engage the contact point withwhich the conductor 126 is connected and thus close the circuit in whichthe magnet 146 is included. VVhen the contact shoe 121 engages the rail10, the resistance in the circuit will be changed by the cutting out ofthe resistance 8 and including'battery 9 in the circuit. The solenoid124 and magnet 146 will now be included in parallel and the current inthe circuit being now increased by excluding the resistance 8 andincluding the battery 9, sufficient current will be supplied to energizeboth the solenoid 124 (retaining the signal blade 137 in raisedposition) and the magnet 146; The result will be that the magnet 146will actuate the latch lever 145 to release the contact lever 143 andpermit the latter to drop into engagement bound train reaches the railsection 4, it will be observed that a partial circuit will be closedincluding battery 86 and contact rail 13 to the right at E, for thepurpose of caus ing the operation of a signal blade in the cab of a.following east-bound train to denote that the first east-bound train isin the block ahead, and thus a rear end collision with the first trainby the second train will be avoided. Thus, when the drum 19 at E isshifted to the right, the following partial circuit will be establishedto put current on the contact rail 13 at the right of E: from battery86, by conductors 85 and 84 to a conductor 150; then to finger 62; thenby contact plate 44 to finger 63; then by conductor 151 to contact rail13. The other terminal of battery 86 is connected through conductor 87with the track rail 1. When the second or No. 2 east-bound train reachesthe contact rail 13 at the right at E, a contact shoe 152 on thelocomotive will engage said rail 13 and complete (in the cab) thepartial circuit above described through a conductor 153, magnets 154,conductors 155, 156, 140, 125 and 126 to battery 127 and from saidbattery to the truck frame 129 and from the latter to the track rail 1.When the magnet 154 is thus energized, it will actuate its armature 157and move a tooth 158 on the same, out of the path of a trip armprojecting from a signal blade 159 which, on the drawing is marked Rear.lVhen the signal blade 159 is thus permitted to rise, the engineer oneast-bound train No. 2 will be notified that he is in rear of east-boundtrain No. 1 which is still in the block ahead. Train No. 2 will remainat E until the cab signal 131 returns to normal or safety positions, andthis will occur when the switch drum 19 at E is tripped and per mittedto return to normal (thus opening the switch controlling circuits), whenthe first train has passed the block junction indicated at D, aspreviously explained. The circuit of conductor 156 may contain anaudible signal indicated at 156*.

WVhen the drum 19 of instrument switch 18 at E was shifted to the rightby the arrival of an east-bound train, certain partial circuits wereestablished to operate a head-on signal in the cab of a westbound trainarriving at D and thus protect the east-bound train from a head-oncollision with the westbound train in the block B. The partial circuitslast above mentioned may be traced as follows: from battery 86 at E toline 85, to line 84, to contact finger 54, contact plate 43, finger 55,conductor 119, conductor 120, contact finger 81 a contact plate 51,finger 81, line conductor 90, finger 83 of instrument switch at D,contact plates 51 and 47, and finger 82 and then by conductor 160 tocontact rail 14 at the left at D. The remainder of this partialcompleted through circuits and devices on the 7 locomotives as follows:A shoe 161 on the locomotive is arranged to engage the said contact rail14. From this shoe the circuit can be traced by way of a conductor 162to a magnet 163, from said magnet, by con ductor 155 to conductor 156,then by conductor 140 to conductor 125, to conductor 126, to battery127, and then by conductor 128 to truck frame 129 and the track rail 1.The completing of this circuit will energize magnet 163 and cause thesame to actuate its armature 164 and remove a tooth 165 thereon, out ofthe path of a trip arm 166 on a signal blade 167 marked Head,- thusreleasing said signal blade and permitting it to rise and indicate thata train is in the block ahead running in the opposite direction,viz.eastward in the present instance. The first east-bound train to whichreference has been hereinbefore made, will now be protected against ahead-on collision as well as a rear end collision.

The head-on rail 14 at one end of each block is connected by a conductor14 with a head-on rail 14 adjacent to but electrically separated fromthe rear-end contact rail 13 at the other end of the same block, so thatwhen a head-on contact rail at one end of a block is energized, anotherhead-on contact rail will be also energized at the other end of the sameblock. By means of such arrangement, when two trains, running inopposite directions, approach respective ends of the same block sectionseach would get headon signals. Should the engineer of one of the trainsignore such signal and proceed through block, such train would getanother head-0n? signal at the exit of the block. Movement to the rightof the drum 19 of switch instrument 18 at E, as before de- 110 scribed,also operates to put current on the caution contact rails 610-11 at theleft at D so that the cab signaling and controlling means (controlled bythe current supplied to these rails,) in the locomotive of 115 the trainrunning from left to right arriving at D will be rendered operative. Thecircuit whereby these results are accomplished is in parallel with thecircuit above described for putting current on the head-on 120 signalrail 14 at the left at D, the branch to include the contact rails 610-11starting at 83 at D. In order that this circuit may be more readilyunderstood, the full circuit may be traced as follows: from battery 86125 at E, by conductors 85-84 to finger 54, to plate 43, to finger 55,to conductor 119, to conductor 120, to finger 81 to contact plate 51, tofinger 81,then by line conductor 90 to contact finger 83 at D, tocontact plate 51 180 to finger 83, then by conductor 120 at D toresistance 8 and battery 9 and contact rails 6 and-1O (in parallel atleft at D), to contact shoe 121 from one of said contact rails andthrough cab circuits connected with shoe 121 to track rail 1, then (ifno train is in block B) by conductor 87 (at E) to battery 86 at E.

Under the armature lever of each circuit closer 98 at, each blockjunction, a high resistance magnet 169 is located. One terminal of thecoil of each of these magnets is connected by a conductor 170 with aconductor 160, which latter is, as before explained connected with ahead-on contact rail 14. The otherterminal of the coil of each magnet169 is connected by a conductor 171 with conductor 87. The highresistance magnets 169 provide means for preventing the closing ofcircuit closers 98 which control the operation of the instrument 18, ata block junction where two trains, running in opposite directions, mayapproach simultaneously. When a train running from right to left haspassed block junction E and has entered the block B, the instrument 18at E will have been shifted and the head-on contact rail 14 at the leftof D will be energized, all as hercinbefore explained. Current havingbeen put on the head-on contact rail 14 at left of D, the highresistance mag nets 169 at D will also be energized because said highresistance magnets are included in a circuit in parallel with thepartial circuit of head-on contact rail. Should a train traveling fromleft to right in block A, similar conditions as above described will beestablished to put current on the head-on contact rail at the right of Eand energize the other high resistance magnet 169 at the right of D. henthe two trains, running in opposite directions, approach the blockjunction D both batteries 16 and 17 will be short circuited and hence,the magnets 96 at both sides of D will be denergized, and thus tend topermit the closing of circuit closers 98. Such closing of these circuitclosers under the conditions above stated, will be prevented, however bythe energized magnets 169. As the circuit closers 98 at D are thusprevented from closing, the circuits and devices which control theoperation of the instrument D will be maintained inactive, and hence thedrum of said instrument will remain at normal. By reason of this fact,the instrument at E will remain shifted to the right and the instrumentat the left hand'end of block A will remain shifted to the left, thusall the signal controlling circuits which were set when the respectivetrains passed the block junctions at the ends of the blocks A and Bfarthest removed from the block junction D remain set. Both trains arenow blocked at D, and

in order to enable one of'them to proceed, the other must take a siding.g

A siding 172 is illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 1, but the circuitsand devices for the same are not shown, the same be-' 111g described andillustrated in detail in ap-' nets 17 5 at another block junction, saidcircuit being traced as follows: from a battery 177, by a conductor 178to one terminal of the coil of high resistance magnet 173, from theother terminal of this coil to one terminal of the coil of lowresistance magnet 174, from the other terminal of this coil, by conductor 179 to conductor 90, to conductor 180 at the next block junction,to one terminal of high resistance magnets 175 and from the otherterminal of the coils of said magnets, by a line conductor 181 to thebattery 177. For convenience, the magnets 17 3174 may be referred to aslocated at block junction D and the magnets 175 at the block junction E.Armature levers 182183 are provided for the magnets and constitute partsof circuit closers 184185. The arma tures 182183 are connected by aconduc tor 186 with conductor 110 and circuit closer 185 is connected bya conductor 187, with the conductor 99, at the left of D. The circuitcloser 184 is connected by a conductor 188 with the conductor 187. Atthe block junction E, the magnets 175 control a circuit closer 189. Thearmature lever of this circuit closer is connected by a conductor 190with the conductor 110 at right of block junction E and the othercontact of the circuit closer 189 is connected by a conductor 191 withthe conductor 99 at right of E.

The purpose of the arrangement of the line conductors 90 and 181 in anormally closed circuit with circuit-controlling magnets as abovedescribed, is to provide means whereby the instruments at the blockjunctions will be caused to be operated in a man ner to energize thecontact rails and thus protect trains, in the event of damage, breakageor short circuiting of the line conduc- 189 would promptly close thecircuits in which they are included, with the result that theinstruments 18 at both block junctions D and E would be shifted, theformer to the left and the latter to the right, because said circuitclosers are included in circuits which bridge the normally open circuitsof the instruments controlling magnets 35-36, so that the closing of thecircuit closers 185 and 189 will have the same effect as the closing ofthe circuit closers 98 when the magnets 96 which control the latter areshort-circuited by a train as hereinbefore explained. hen theinstruments at D and E are shifted as above mentioned, trains will beblocked at both ends of block B and the latter will be practically cutout. The engineers of the trains may be instructed by the despatcher todisregard the signals at D and E and proceed cautiously through block Buntil the damage has been repaired.

, Assume that a cross exists between conductors 90 and 181. Under suchconditions, the magnets 175 would be short-circuited and the circuitcloser 189 would, therefore, be permitted to close. This will cause theshifting of instrument 18 at E to the right and establish circuits asbefore explained to signal a train running from right to left. The highresistance magnet 175 having been short-circuited, suiiicient currentwill now be supplied to energize high resistance magnet 173 to an extentsuflicient to close the circuit closer 184 and thus establish a circuitwhich will cause the shifting of instrument 18 at D to the left, andthus protect trains running from left to right. It is evident that ifthe line conductor 91 should break, the instruments at the blockjunctions could not be unlocked, and hence trains would be protecteduntil the damage has been repaired. It is also apparent that if circuitsof batteries 16 or 17 should become ruptured, or should said batteriesbecome short-circuited or fail from any cause, the instrument 18 at theblock junction would be operated and trains would be protected.

Provision is made to stop two trains running in opposite directions,which might attempt to enter respective ends of a block simultaneously.For example, should trains running in opposite directions, reach blockjunctions D and E simultaneously, the in strument 18 at D will beshifted to the left and the instrument 18 at E will be shifted to theright. This will operate to put current on contact rails 21 1 which arecentrally between the track rails and approximately centrally betweenthe two contact rails 10 at each block junction, so that when thecontact shoes 121 of both trains reach said contact rails 21 1, cabcircuits will be completed which will operate the brakes to stop thetrains. The circuits which accomplish these results may be traced asfollows: from battery 86 at D to conductor 85, to conductor 8%, toconductor 150, to a conductor 215, through magnet 216, to conductor 217,to contact finger of instrument 18 at D, to contact plate 50, to finger71, to conductor 218, to conductor 90, to conductor 219, to contactfinger 69 of instrument 18 at E, to contact plate 50, to finger 68, toconductor 217 at left of E, through magnet 216, to conductor 110, toconductor 87, to track rail 1, to conductor 87, to battery 86 at D. Thiswill energize magnets 216 at right of D and at left of E, and operatecircuit closers 220 to close two partial local circuits to the contactrails 21%. Each of these partial circuits may be traced at each blockjunction, as follows: from battery 86 to conductor 85, to conductor 84,to conductor 150, to conductor 215, to conductor 221, through circuitcloser 220, to conductor 222, through battery 223, to contact rail 21.1, to shoe 121, then through cab circuits including the magnets whichcontrol the block signal 131 and the brake controlling devices, then torail 1, to conductor 89, to conductor 87 to battery 86. Thus, the twotrains at D and E will be stopped. Under these conditions, one of thetrains must take the siding. In order to manually operate the circuitclosers, cams, such as 225, may be employed and adapted to be operatedby means of a suitable key.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electrical block system, the combination with track rails,contact rails, circuit shifting means at the junction of two blocks, andsignaling means on the rolling equipment, of electro-magnetic devicesfor operating the circuit shifting means, electric circuits includingsaid electro-magnetic devices, normally open circuit closers in saidcircuits, electro-magnets for said circuit closers, normally closedelectric circuits including the track rails and the magnets of saidcircuit closers, said normally closed circuits including batteriesdisposed between the track rails and adapted to be short-circuited by arolling equipment, partial circuits including said shifting means andcontact rails, and partial circuits including the signaling means on therolling equipment to cooperate with the contact rails, high resistancemagnets operatively associated with said circuit closers, electriccircuits including said high resistance magnets and arranged in parallelwith certain of said firstmentioned partial circuits, andelectro-magnetically controlled locking and releasing means for thecircuit shifting means, and circuits and devices controlled by saidcircuit closers for controlling said locking and releasing means.

lid

2. In an electrical block system, the combination with track rails,contact rails, circuit shifting means at each block junction, andsignaling means on the rolling equipment, of electro-magneticallyoperated devices for operating the circuit shifting means, electriccircuits including said electromagnetic devices for controlling thelatter, means controlled by the rolling equipment for controlling thecircuits of said electro-magnetic devices, line conductors, high and lowresistance magnets included in a closed circuit With said lineconductors at one block juncture, high resistance magnets included insaid closed circuit at another block juncture, circuit closerscontrolled by the high and low resistance magnets at one block junction,a circuit closer controlled by the high resistance magnets at the otherblock junction, circuits including said circuit closers and arranged inparallel to said first mentioned circuits which control the saidelectro-magnetic devices, partial circuits including the circuitshifting means and contact rails, and partial circuits includingsignaling means on the rolling equipment for cooperation With saidcontact rails.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this 7 specification in the presenceof tWo subscribing Witnesses.

ANDREWV J. ALLARD. Witnesses:

WM. P. REDD,

PERCY SMITH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

